


Summer of 1976

by lunarlilliescharting



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Developing Relationship, F/M, Hogwarts, I Made Myself Cry, I Might Break Your Heart, Indian James Potter, On the Run, Secret Relationship, Slow Burn, Summer, Teen Romance, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:07:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23365192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarlilliescharting/pseuds/lunarlilliescharting
Summary: Because if we don’t leave this town, we might never make it out.The deal was, one last summer to be young, to be free, one last summer before they joined the efforts. The war rages on in the background, but teenagers need the room to grow.James x Lily.
Relationships: James Potter & Lily Evans Potter, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	1. 23rd June

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic adaptation of an au I have written on my twitter, which i can link if anybody wants! Happy reading x

Before James went to his detention, the other marauders had told him that they would be waiting in the Gryffindor common room, but it was 30 minutes after finishing the detention that James found himself down by the lake, where he spotted them laying on the grass in the warm evening sun. It was a fairly warm evening, and if James was forced to guess, he may have assumed that it was in the low 20s, and the sun shining in his eyes from where it hung low in the sky and reflected over the lake lit his face up as he approached. The clouds were plentiful above them, and James wondered if Lily was around, he knew she would enjoy laying on the grass and watching them move, trying to pick shapes out from the mismatched cloud layer, and basking in the last of the evening's warmth.

Lily. James had always had a soft spot for her, even if she had hated him for years. More recently she had warmed up to him, after he approached her for help with a situation only she, as far as he was aware, was accustomed to. To James, it was a moment in getting help, it was the sign of a new beginning, of the rest of his life, after everything. It was the start of a journey he wasn’t sure either of them was ready to make. 

Unfortunately, James’ thoughts of Lily were interrupted from a particularly loud laugh from Sirius, who quickly stopped when he saw James’ shadow looming over him, and scrambled to sit up, now letting out a nervous laugh instead. James sat down to their right, refusing to speak or even look at them, letting his annoyance at the whole situation be known. 

For the next few minutes they all sat there in silence, before the conversation between Remus, Sirius and Peter returned, and James sat alone to the side, a stick in hand, writing words on the ground or just dragging it around in circles. He was happy to continue doing this for hours, as it was easy to ignore Sirius calling his name, but this hope was quickly crushed by a projectile hitting him in the chest, which was less easy to ignore. He picked it up, rising with anger, and Sirius’ shoe armed in his hand to strike back at his attacker. James got a hit in on the shoulder and one on the head, before Peter pulled him off, trying to wrestle the shoe out of James’s grasp, whilst Remus helped Sirius up, who then had to lean on him for support. At this point, James was sick of his friends, and threw the shoe, but the opposite direction than Sirius would need it to go, and he stalked off. 

Not 50 metres away, Lily sat with a group of her friends, and had watched the whole ordeal go down. When she spotted James walking away, she excused herself from her friends, saying she had to write an owl home, and rushed after him, staying her respectable distance away until they were out of sight, when she stopped him in his tracks.

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t want to go back to Gryffindor tower, come somewhere with me?”

Lily almost said no, but the look on James’ face made her change her mind, because it was a look she was all too familiar with. It was the look of a person who had endured too much already, of a person whose heart had been broken and could never be fixed, it was a look of pain, and longing. He wanted a safe place to be, and hell if Lily wasn’t gonna offer that.

And so she followed him, and Lily knew she would keep following him, anywhere he asked, anywhere they both needed to escape to. He had a strong front he put up to everyone, but Lily knew who he was, and how he felt. They trusted each other, and to Lily, that meant more than anyone would ever realise, especially in the coming months. Deep down, Lily was terrified, they were already taking each day as it came to them, solving whatever problems they needed to, and she knew they would make it the last week before term ended, but the summer was a hurdle she wasn’t sure they’d both be able to make it over. 

If Lily had spoken her fears aloud, James would have wholeheartedly agreed with her, but instead the pair remained silent, hundreds of unspoken words floating between the two of them. They screamed out to Lily to be said, for him to hear them, for the growing tensions between the two to be finally resolved through something other than a fight, something that lasted. Lily felt as if a million eyes were watching the pair, and that they would be able to see all that wasn’t yet between them. But, when Lily looked around, the only person looking at her was James, and Lily decided that was a lot better. 

It wasn’t until they reached the top of the astronomy tower that either one of them spoke, the understanding and support each gave the other was enough to keep them calm, even as James’ mind wandered to all the corners of the earth. Lily preferred it this way, as when James spoke, LIly felt as if she could hear his heart breaking with the weight of all it held, everything that he kept secret, that he felt he needed to hold alone. 

“Thank you, for agreeing to come with me.”  
The words cut through the warm summer evening, and Lily turned her head to gaze at James, who was still sat staring into the distance. He had taken his tie off, and unbuttoned the top three buttons on his shirt, and he looked more peaceful than he had in the last few weeks when Lily had seen him, as if nothing bad had ever happened. If Lily was a bitter person, she would be questioning why the worst things happen to the best people, but she had come to terms to the fact that bad things happened to everyone, and that sometimes people pulled the short straw, and there was nothing they could do about it. Life moved on and if they didn’t keep up Lily felt it might leave them behind, and that was what Lily now feared more. They were living in a new world, and times were changing for everyone. 

“It’s okay, I know how hard it's been for you, and you know how hard it’s been for me.”

With her words, James turned his head to look back at Lily, and their eyes met, and the look of understanding between them was fully emphasised with each of Lily’s words. Afterwards, the two returned to silence, with the gentle whistling of the wind providing the background noise needed to keep the two calm. The sun was reaching its final low point far in the distance, and it gave way to a clear night full of stars, which Lily enjoyed despite the low mood of the two. They found solace and peace in each other’s company, and what they shared. It was a bond that may prove to be unbreakable, formed in each other’s darkest moments. 

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to” Lily turned up look at James, shocked at the volume at which he had spoken, causing it to go right through her “it's completely up to you if we do this.”  
“I’m not sure i want to do it, but that's the whole point, it's the unknown” Lily sighed before shifting to face him fully “everything in our live is so uncertain, we don’t know who we will still have each day to the next, but we have each other, and we have this summer, and if someone comes after us, let them, they might believe us dead.”  
James was shocked at Lily’s final words, that she could be so nonchalant about that, and he took a few seconds to think before he could even respond.  
“You don’t think it will get that far do you? It’s only supposed to be two months of freedom, of being more than who we are now.”  
“When you’re us, it’s hard to escape it, and we’ve seen what’s out there, and what it can do to people.” Lily responded, moving closer to James. He looked at her for a long time, before he reached over and took her hand in his, and the two lapsed back into silence, spending the rest of the evening and all through the night at the top of the tower, thinking separately, but they weren’t alone.


	2. 24th June

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is short, it goes by day, and this is all I have.

At around 7am the next morning, James and Lily began the trek back to the Gryffindor common room, hoping to sneak in separately and get ready for that day, as if neither of them had ever been gone. This plan was, unfortunately, thwarted when James saw Sirius getting closer to them on the marauders map, and he sent Lily a separate way to avoid this secret being found out, because he knew Lily didn’t want people to know, and James wasn’t quite ready to explain the situation between them. After all, how do you put something that fragile into words without breaking it apart at the very core. Fortunately for them both, Lily was able to get away before Sirius would have reached the pair, and James was left to deal with him alone.

“So where have you been all night then mate, off shagging some bird, your secret girlfriend perhaps?” Sirius quipped, his laugh coming through between the words “or did you two break up, is that why you’ve been so depressed?” James had to grit his teeth to avoid snapping back at Sirius, or using physical violence. James tried to step around him, but Srius reached his arm out and put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “C’mon mate, it's only a joke, lighten up.”

This is what broke James’ silence.

“For fucks sake Sirius, what do you want me to say, oh sorry that I’ve been so distant both of my parents were murdered by fucking voldemort and his band of loonies three weeks ago trynna keep me, and our world, safe, and now I don’t know what to do anymore.”

That was only the second time that James had spoken the last line out loud, with the first time being to Lily mere hours after he found out. It was one of the most painful truths he had at the moment, that he didn’t know what to do anymore. After all, what do you do when you become an orphan, when you have no other family to talk to, when your life is inexplicably changed overnight and it feels like everything you once knew is crumbling down around you. And, the truth from it all, was that James was scared, of everything that was now his. He was now the head of one of the richest households, a house of 1, with no one to live in Potter Manor with, with no one to celebrate birthdays or christmas with, and no family he felt he could truly call his. Times were changing, and the war was dawning upon him, as his war to be fought, in the end, it was all coming down to their generation to fix it, but was he ready at 16?

Sirius was too stunned to respond to him, and for James, there was nothing that could have worked better. He turned on his heels and walked the other way, following the path Lily would have taken back to the Gryffindor common room. He quickly caught up with her, grabbing her by the arm and calling her name. Unfortunately, some members of their house turned the corner at this point, and James had to pull Lily into the closest door so that neither of them would be seen. Even more unfortunately, this was a broom closet, a small broom closet. They were sanding mere inches apart, with James letting out ragged breaths as he struggled to control himself and hold back the oncoming tears. He looked into her eyes, and Lily found herself struggling to resist the urge to look at his lips. If anyone found them in this situation they would be in an infinite amount of trouble, but for now, neither of them cared.

“I told Sirius” he whispered “it didn’t quite go as planned though.” 

Lily faltered for a moment, struggling to find the words in the cramped heat of the room, where there was little to focus on other than James, and how close he was to her. 

“That’s okay” she finally answered “I’m proud of you either way, it’s a hard thing to do, but it can only go up from here, no matter how bad it seems.”

“How were you able to tell people so easily?” he spoke, a light breath.

“It was different with me, I found out at the table, my friends read the letter in the Great Hall. They knew when I did, and I was grateful for having them, and now I’m here for you. We’re in this together me and you, it’s all we have.” Lily finished, looking at James with a sadness so familiar to the both of them. “We need to leave, but what are you gonna do, with the boys?”

“We have like 6 days left of term, I’ll avoid them, if I can. After that, we disappear.”


	3. 25th June

James got about 3 steps into the Gryffindor common room when he realised what being in there at this time truly meant for him, it meant owning up to a truth he had been trying to keep hidden, and it meant facing his friends, who he wasn’t sure he completely trusted now. James took a mental step back, he couldn’t stop trusting his friends so quickly, they’d done everything for each other, and did well at school despite the bias against them. 

The marauders came together as a group of social outcasts, a group of those who didn’t fit societies standards or what was expected of them. Sirius, a Black who was sorted into Gryffindor, who met James on the train, and they both decided then and there they would do anything for the other. James was rich, and old British family on his father’s side, but his mum was from an older Indian family, and their marriage had caused quite the stir across the wizarding world, and caused James to struggle to make friends when he had first started school, there was always something for people to hold against him. Remus was quiet and, whilst they didn’t know it at the time, a werewolf, with the scars and air of mystery to show for it. He was viewed as a nerd, as not worthy in other people’s eyes. And finally there was Peter, if they had left him alone, he would have been an easy target for bullies, as they had seen in the first week, before the rest had taken them under his wing. Even though he had been the last to join their band of misfits, he was as true a friend as the rest of them were, and people knew it. They were a group who had proven themselves to be smart, to be brave, and that they would get back at people who had gone for them in their early years. As they had grown, girls had become more interested in some members of the group, but James’ reputation dropped every time he went after someone who had hurt one of his friends, it was what he had grown to expect, it was already ruined enough before he even spoke to people, he wanted to prove why. 

Unofficially, many saw James as the leader of their small group, the others taking his cue, and James saw it the same way. He had gone and made the friends no one else had wanted, and he had brought them to who they were today, popular in their own house, and mostly across their year, despite some still fearing or envying them. Life for the marauders was not as easy for them as everyone thought, and James felt like he had a performance to keep up, a mask to keep on. He wasn’t someone to be pitied, he was James Potter, and he had a reputation to uphold, to show he wasn’t weak, or lesser, or everything others thought of him. But for now, he was scared, and upset, and he just wanted Lily.

When the portrait opened, several people looked up, including Sirius, Peter and Remus, but James refused to look at them, instead choosing to hold the door open, and go back through it, his eyes scanning the Grand Staircase for the mop of red hair that was so uniquely Lily. He saw it several floors below, alone, with her heading towards the common room. He sprinted down the moving stairs to meet her, hopping over the banisters at the bottom of one to reach the level she was on whilst it was moving away. She watched him through this, and held her breath during his final movement, scared he didn’t make it. Fortunately for the both of them, he did, but did so by landing straight into Lily, the force of which pushed them both back into the wall behind her. She was trapped, by his hands on either side of her head as they both took heavy breaths from the shock, by his leg in between hers, and by his face so close to hers, his dark brown eyes meeting her green ones, as she resisted the urge to draw her eyes to his lips, or to draw him closer. 

“Uh- I was- um. I was looking for you.” James stammered out, finally pushing away from the wall and Lily, pulling her slightly up with him. She looked at him for several seconds, face flushed red and hands moving to quickly go through her hair as she tried to regain her calm demeanour she was normally able to hold around James.

“Really, I never would have guessed that” she responded coolly, as James grabbed her hand and led her back into the corridor she had just exited, moving them both to behind a small alcove behind a large tapestry on the wall, a normal snogging point for many students of Hogwarts, but for them, it was the type of area they would plan, where they would console each other, where James would let his pain be known. This time, James had a question for Lily, which could change everything they had planned previously, and could cost them all that they know. 

“Can we go tonight?” He questioned, the moment they got into the small space, the shocked look on Lily’s face begging for some explanation. “I can’t stay here any longer, we have no reason to be here, we’ve finished our OWLs, I can get us to Hogsmeade, and I can get us miles south on a broom, we can be 500 miles away before anyone is even awake. People won’t know why we left, we leave our wands, our stuff, everything. One backpack, everything we need.”

Lily faltered for a moment, the pleading sound of his voice being enough to convince her. Secretly, she wanted to get out of here as much as he did, especially after an incident with her ex-best friend, Severus Snape.

The fault could be his or James’, but Lily decided that blaming Snape was the way to go. A few weeks ago, she had been down by the Great Lake, when he had walked up to her, but not before passing Marauders on the way. He had snarled some insult or another towards Remus, which James decided he was not having. He got up, wand out, and a hex already sent towards Snape. Lily didn’t have time to register what it was, as Snape deflected it as she went rushing over. She shouted James’ name several times, telling him to stop, that this wasn’t the right thing to do. James looked at her, lowering his wand as her begging eyes met his, but this wasn’t what Snape had wanted. His eyes turned to Lily, pulling out a sentence before he uttered the words she never thought he would call her. A mudblood. Lily fled before he could say anything else. With James casting a final glare at Snape whilst stalking off in a seemingly different direction. They met up 10 minutes later, where James let Lily cry into him, helping bring their relationship into what it was now. 

Lily nodded, before her fears escaped her “What if something happens to us?” her face softening as she looked up at James, their close proximity and large height difference making this possible. Before he responded, James pulled Lily into a hug, comforting her soothing the fears she felt, and thanking her.

He was still hugging her as he got closer to her ear and whispered “Lils, it’s a dangerous world out there, it would’ve happened to us anyway, we both know, and we’ve agreed to go. The choice is completely yours, I’ll do whatever you’re happy with. If you want to go, 2am tonight, the common room, one bag, that's it, no magic, no wizarding money, as if we were two muggle teenagers.” Lily only nodded a response, and that was done. She was leaving tonight.

The very idea of leaving scared her, even if it had just been them going home. Their lives had changed so much, and the security Hogwarts offered was unmatched. She almost said no to going early, but she had to think- why not? They were running away, people might not know what happened, but they didn’t owe anyone an explanation. They were going to explore the country because fuck it, what else can they do, they were young, with lives ahead of them to fight, but for now it felt as if it was just them against the world, and hell if they weren’t gonna win.


	4. 26th June

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just want to say whilst I do not want to encourage underage smoking or drinking, I am also not going to tell you not to do it, because we are all young and just want to have fun.

Lily hadn’t even slept that night, she had closed her eyes, but it was a futile effort, with her anticipation and fear keeping her up way past the time her roommates had fallen asleep. She had quickly packed her bag whilst her roommates were still in the common room, enjoying the warmth of the friday evening, with only a few days to go until term finished, and no extra work being set for their classes. It was easy to pack, putting in something to sleep in, some summer clothes, and emptying her muggle money into her spare purse, leaving behind any connections she had to the wizarding world. It was a small bag, with not a lot in it, but for the next few months, it was all she would hold to her name. She rejoined her roommates for a while, before they all retired up to bed as it neared midnight, and one by one they fell asleep, until only Lily was awake.  
At 3 minutes to 2, Lily sat on her bed, waiting, and listening, her half packed trunk at the foot of her bed, where they had spent a few minutes putting things away earlier. She took one last look at her wand, where it rested on her bedside table, before taking off down the stairs silently. The decision to leave their wands was a hard one, but they weren’t of age to perform magic outside of hogwarts anyway, so it would only cause them more problems. Therefore, they decided to leave them, putting them in significantly more danger. She still wasn’t sure if this was a good idea, or even if they could pull off the whole disappearing act. 

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, James was there waiting, his features lit up by the dying embers of the fire, showing the sadness in his face. Lily took a deep breath, before moving to stand in front of him, his eyes moving to meet hers in the silent room. James took a final look at the marauders map, before moving quickly up the stairs, placing the map in his trunk, and returning to Lily, reaching out for her hand in the low morning light. Her hand met his halfway, and he moved them out of the portrait hole and down the grand staircase to the closest secret passage, keeping their eyes and ears open for a sign they weren’t alone. Days later, Lily would reflect back on how long it was before their hands released each other.

After a few close calls, involving being far too close in far too small spaces, they made it off the grounds and into hogsmeade as 2:30am neared, and made it to the stolen broomstick waiting in a dark alley. They wanted to make it as far south as possible by 6am, when the broom would destroy itself, and when they would finally get rid of their last trace of magic. They had 3 and a half hours before their entire world changed, in ways they hadn’t even envisioned. The journey was tough, it was cold and windy, and the sunrise did little to help, and they were too afraid of being spotted. They had made it out, and there was no going back now.

As 6am dawned upon them, they made their way into a town on the outskirts of Manchester, landing in a small park. Seconds later, the broom self destructed, and the wind quickly blew the ashes away, scattering across the park. At this point, it truly hit Lily what they had done, and the pure insanity of it. They had up and left everyone and everything they knew, for what? Lily decided the last part was a stupid question, she knew why they did it. It was about being young, it was about being reckless and making poor decisions, and it was about having fun, it was an escape, as if they could pretend nothing bad had ever happened. Soon, the castle would begin to wake up, and they would realise two of their students were missing.

\---------------------------------------

As it was a saturday, the other boys in the dorm didn’t wake up until 8:30, as breakfast lasted until 9:30. There were about 12 boys total, split across two rooms, sharing one large bathroom. Remus was the first in his room to wake up, and soon forcing Sirius and Peter awake as well as the other two members of their room got ready for the day and headed to the Great Hall. No one was surprised to see that James’ bed was empty, he was in after them and gone before them most days anyway. However, the surprise came at seeing an unmade bed, and his wand sat on the side. James went nowhere without his wand, especially given his reputation. He was a favourite target of the Slytherins when they wanted a duel, and it could end quite nasty if he was unarmed. They tried to ignore the uneasy air surrounding James’ absence, but Sirius broke the silence when he opened James’ trunk, only to find the map and the cloak inside.

They spent the next few minutes checking, and double checking, every square inch of the map. By the end, they came to the realisation that James was nowhere to be seen, people moved in clusters, but his name was nowhere.   
“Maybe we just missed him?” Peter asked, the fear showing through his voice.  
“He would show up on the map, we’ve checked like four times, he isn’t here, we need to tell someone.” Remus was the only one who kept a level head, thinking it was better to be safe than sorry. 

Ten minutes later, the trio was halfway to McGonagall’s office.They received odd looks from those they passed, wondering why they were heading in the opposite direction. The door was slightly open when they arrived, and they pushed it slightly more before pausing in the doorway, realising that there was already a group of gryffindors in there. Sirius spotted Marlene McKinnon amongst the group, and he realised they were the girls from their year. They were crying over one thing or another, which the boys assumed was insignificant. Still, they waited, listening enough to understand what was happening, until they heard what they hadn’t wanted to hear. They were crying over the apparent disappearance of Lily Evans in the night. It was after this that the boys were spotted, and McGonagall immediately tried to dismiss them, before Sirius piped up.

“James is missing as well”

The room froze after these words, and a look of fear dawned upon McGonagall’s face. The group of gryffindors was ushered out of the room, as McGonagall made her way to Dumbledore’s office.

“Go to breakfast, all of you. I’ll speak to you at the end.”

They all listened, and they moved as one, discussing the mystery between themselves, and what might have happened to their friends. Sirius, normally loud and leading the group, was quiet, and off to the side alone, when a realisation hit him.

Both Lily’s and James’ parents had recently been targeted by Voldermort and his followers, what if they were going after James and Lily as well? 

\---------------------------------------

Whilst Hogwarts began to scramble over the disappearance of Lily and James, they checked themselves into a cheap hotel on the outskirts of Manchester, where they could seek refuge for a day or two before they moved again. Because that was their new normal, constantly on the move. They were on the run from two enemies, in a way. They did not want to be caught by the death eaters, and they didn’t want to be found by anyone else from the wizarding world. For the next two months they were a pair of normal muggles, people untouched by the wizarding world and the danger it was about to pose. 

They didn’t have much with them, and knew that they could buy anything new they needed. They had enough money to see them through the summer, and to get them back to Hogwarts without getting the train. Lily was panicking slightly, reeling over the loss of security which Hogwarts had provided them, and she was fearful of what dangers would be surrounding them soon enough. Lily’s toughest task in the upcoming days was helping James blend into the muggle world, and the months of prejudice he was likely going to have to face. 

When Lily explained this to him, she felt a pain when he described how normal that feeling was for him. The feeling that people hated him because of what he looked like, because of who his mother was. Lily knew this when she agreed, and that it wouldn’t be easy on either of them, and that Lily wanted to help shield him from the rest of the pain the world had to offer.

But for now, they were sitting on the large bed, but either one was refusing to sleep, coming to the conclusion they couldn’t mess up any form of body clock they had, waiting until that night to fall asleep. They decided to make the most of their newfound freedom and wander the city whilst they were still here.

To any other tourists, they must have looked normal, but no one would know the pain behind their decisions and the delicate beginnings of their strange relationship, based off of heartbreak and lies.

\---------------------------------------

After breakfast, the group of 7 waited in the hall for the arrival of Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore. Whilst they had sat in the Great Hall, and odd silence and sadness surrounded the group, something which did not go unnoticed by the people sat around them. Gryffindors especially noticed the distinct absence of James and Lily, which seemed to create a hole in the groups. Even when all the food left the tables, they still sat and waited, drawing a large amount of attention to them. People in their year continued to notice the changes, and whispers spread throughout the houses about the severe lack of James and Lily, a very noticeable Gryffindor pair.

They waited for around half an hour after the end of breakfast before anyone entered the hall, with the footsteps drawing the group’s attention quickly. It was a slow movement, paced in a way as if they were trying to prolong the conversation was about to happen. To Sirius, it felt like it took minutes between each step, and a sick feeling grew in the bottom of his stomach, and suddenly he decided he didn’t need the teachers’ on what had happened to James, he just knew. He was the only one who knew what had happened, who understood what a severe state James would be in, especially considering how close he was with his parents. They would do anything for James, and Sirius knew James would do anything for them. James couldn’t even fight back, he was unarmed, and possibly alone. Sirius realised he could already be dead, he would always refuse to join their side, and he was no real use to the death eaters alive, he was just another record of how many they had killed. James could have died alone, counting down the seconds until it was all over, until he could see his family. Maybe he-

Before Sirius could upset himself even further, the professors made their way over to the group, a somber look on each of their faces, and Sirius thought he saw tears in Professor McGonagall’s eyes. They stood in front of them, a calming presence, waiting until everyone was ready for what they were going to say, as they knew they couldn’t leave it at nothing. The whole situation was new, and potentially dangerous to everyone else at hogwarts.They had a split duty now, to try and find James and Lily, and to try and protect the rest of their students. After all, they weren’t even sure if they would still be alive by the time anyone got to them.

“We have begun to look into this, and we have reason to believe they were both taken. Now, I’m only telling you this because you're their friends, so I don't expect anyone else to find out, but we believe that this may be the work of Voldemort and his followers, as both of their parents were recently targeted by them. We hope to keep this whole ordeal under wraps, what with everyone going home soon. We will need to enter both dormitories later today to have a look, and whilst I understand this is a frustrating time, we now have a priority to keep the rest of our students safe.”  
Dumbledore spoke, his voice calming the group over their fears and ensuring them that they were doing everything in their power to help.

The news just felt like a confirmation of everything they feared already, and everyone was sure you would be able to see the group visibly deflate at the news. That moment changed everyone’s lives in numerous ways, in ways that had already happened, and in ways that were yet to happen. It was an unprecedented situation for everyone involved, and no one could even fathom what might happen next.

After that, the group left, and made their way back up to Gryffindor tower, with the journey being mostly in silence, apart from a few words exchanged to those they passed. Somewhere on the Grand Staircase, Remus stopped, his mind racing.  
“We never even knew that James’ parents were dead, let alone that they had been murdered. God we were assholes.” he said, with his words made all of them stop in their tracks, as the realisation dawned upon them. They had all been good friends, and none of them had been there for James in the recent weeks, and now he was missing, and most likely dead. 

\---------------------------------------

If there hadn't been enough gossip surrounding Lily and James anyway, then watching Dumbledore and McGonagall check through their items in their respective dorms only made it worse. They were looking for signs of what could have happened to them, for any sort of information regarding their two students and their whereabouts.

Neither of them were sure what would be missing, and none of their roommates could identify what objects were missing, with only their pyjamas being identifiable enough. They had left behind their wands, which left an uneasy feeling in the professors’ stomachs. Being unarmed in the world out there was extremely dangerous, even if they hadn’t been taken. It also made them harder to find, because without magic there was no real way of tracing wherever they were. For now, the professors just had to hope that they could survive long enough to be found.They looked around for roughly 10 minutes in each dorm, checking security on the windows, and the enchantments kept to keep the inhabitants safe. 

When they left, it was after a somber look to Lily’s and James’ friends, before they exited through the portrait hole. It was like the entire common room had held their breath as they erupted into whispers once they left, with some shooting careful glances at what was left of the marauders, and at Lily’s friends, trying to base the situation off of their reactions, but none of them moved. In the space of less than 24 hours, the atmosphere of Gryffindor tower had completely changed, and it was spreading. People were afraid, and they were sad. Some tried to talk to the main seven, but they wanted little to do with them, instead choosing to remain in silence in the corner, skipping lunch, and instead moving around the grounds slowly.

Sirius was one who was particularly blaming himself. His best mate had been struggling for weeks, and he had done nothing to help, hell he hadn’t even known what was wrong. He did what he always did, he joked about the situation, trying to make light or make jokes, as if nothing had happened, as if they didn’t notice how down James had been. And fuck, James had told him, James had screamed at him that he didn’t know what to say or even to do anymore, and Sirius did nothing, he listened, and he did what James wanted, he left him alone. He had left James all alone these past few days, during what may have been his last ever days. Now he had to pretend that he never knew, that he didn’t carry that secret for the both of them. Sirius hated himself, what if he had been there for him, what if he hadn’t let him walk away, and seen him through it all. The marauders were supposed to be more than friends, they were supposed to be there for each other, through everything. It was a brotherhood, it was people who protected each other, who were there for the others when the entire world was against them, which was likely how James was feeling recently. Sirius felt like a failure, like he had betrayed everything they had stood for, like he went against what James had done. James had made the group, he had brought them all together when no one else wanted to be their friends, he had gotten the group their reputation, their standing, their popularity, and within the group, he had brought fraternity and hope to those who needed help. But when it was James who had needed help, they hadn’t been there for him, and Sirius would always kick himself over it.

Within half an hour, the entire Gryffindor tower knew of James’ and Lily’s disappearance, with some knowing that it was suspected to be a kidnapping by the new Lord Voldemort and his death eaters, and within two hours most of the school knew, information trickling through their year, and into other years. It felt like the war had finally reached inside the castle grounds, and it wouldn’t stop there. Word continued to spread, and the professors knew they had to do something before letters reached parents about what had happened. They were going to need to make an announcement, and soon, to clear things up, and to ensure the safety of everyone at hogwarts.

For most, it was a shock, and for some, it was a warning, that Hogwarts wasn't safe. 

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What felt like an entire world away, Lily and James were sitting in a small burger restaurant, as it neared 9pm. It was the first proper meal either one of them had had that day, choosing to explore and ignore the hunger gnawing at them. Lily took a quick sip from her drink, before looking up at James, who was picking at his burger in a slightly odd way. He moved his eyes to meet Lily’s, who’s look made him just start eating it normally, after which he found out he actually enjoyed it, and definitely ended up eating it faster than he should have. It was busy in the restaurant, with most tables being full of people enjoying their saturday evening, so James and Lily found themselves sitting in a booth meant for 6 people.

“What if I dyed my hair?” Lily questioned, twirling the ends of her hair between her fingers and looking at it as if she was inspecting the very quality.

James took a minute to respond, finishing the bite of his burger before looking fully at Lily. “Why would you dye your hair? I like that colour.” He finally answered, dragging Lily’s attention back to him and away from the people who seemed to be walking their way.

Lily had always wanted to dye her hair, and she decided that this summer, as a summer of recklessness and freedom, was the perfect time to do it, and she could just use magic to fix it once she returned to hogwarts. James’ praise of her hair colour made her plans falter for a second, and she decided to put it off for a while instead of never doing it, it was her life after all, and she had 50 more years to have a normal hair colour. It was their summer to do anything they wanted, she had months, she didn’t need to do it straight away. Lily’s response was on the tip of her tongue when a group of three approached them. 

“Sorry, but it’s full in here, any chance we could sit with you?” The girl at the front asked, gesturing to the empty space in the booth, her manchester accent shining through. 

Before James could even speak, Lily nodded back at them. “That’s fine, this was the only table we could get.”

The girl seemed to do a double take at Lily’s accent, seeing as it was very different to what they were used to in the north. After this, they struck up a conversation with each other, and Lily had to kick James under the table to get him to join in, which he did so reluctantly, before they all ended up hitting it off with each other. They soon introduced themselves, learning the girls’ names as Jennie, Sam, and Lucy. Even after Lily and James had finished eating, they stayed there with them, getting to know them, learning about the city, and explaining that they were only tourists passing through. 

Lily found her eyes being drawn to James, who was listening intently to something Jennie had to say, and laughed when it was over. She studied his features, and the way that the sunset lit up one side of his face, showing Lily a colour in his eyes she had never seen before, and his darker features glowed, and Lily knew the other girls were likely thinking the same. On the other side of his face, the harsh white lights seemed to dull him out, but he didn’t look any worse. 

Lily’s inner thoughts were interrupted by a question from Sam. “We have to go, our friends are having a party not too far from here, do you wanna come?”

James looked at Lily for permission, who nodded. They both got up, and followed the trio out of the diner. James was in front with Sam, who was happily chatting away, whilst Lily walked behind with the other girls. It was in this moment, seeing the city line rise behind him with the setting sun, that Lily decided that she had made the decision, and she was prepared to follow James wherever they needed to that Summer.

They reached the party half an hour later, in the back fields of a large house. It was loud, and it was crowded, and they were playing a song that neither of them knew. Their new friends beckoned them to a long table just inside the house, where they were told to take whatever drinks they wanted. Lily and James, being rather inexperienced with muggle drinks, got drunk faster than they may have planned to, and spent a large amount of time in the crowds of people, dancing the night away.

When it neared 11:30, Lily pulled James outside to get some fresh air, and another drink on the way, which they got down rather quickly, trying to keep themselves awake enough. They quickly found their new friends outside, who were sitting in a circle with about 5 others. They waved the pair over, inviting them to join their game, which happened to be spin the bottle. They agreed, and sat on opposite sides of the circle, James getting to know some of the lads who were there that night. When Lily sat down, the girl next to her, Lucy, held out a pack of cigarettes as an offer, which Lily took hesitantly, placing one in her mouth as Lucy lit it for her. She coughed after her first inhale, earning her light laughs from the group and a solid pa on the back from Lucy, who gestured at her to spin first. It landed on a muggle boy, who she kissed, and the game continued.

They played for a while, getting more and more drunk as the drinks were shared throughout the circle, before it neared 1am, and the lack of sleep was beginning to catch up to Lily and James. They excused themselves, with Jennie tossing a pack of cigarettes to Lily ‘for the road’ as she had gone through several that night. 

They didn’t know how far of a walk back to the hotel it was, but they managed to make it back to the burger place from earlier within 15 minutes, from where they could successfully navigate their way back to the hotel, with a few stops on the way.

As they made their way up the stairs in their hotel, they were full of laughter and lots of shushing of the other, especially when it took them 5 minutes to even open the hotel room door. As they staggered into the room, James reached the bed first, flopping himself down backwards on it, as Lily moved to pull him up straight away afterwards. It was a struggle, and she eventually was able to do it, and she threw his bag at him, telling him to get changed whilst she did the same. They couldn’t even see straight, as they changed mere feet away from each other, and Lily got the vague idea she wouldn’t even remember this in the morning.

As they began to drift off to sleep, Lily heard James murmur something in her ear, a quiet thank you for agreeing to leave, for helping him. Lily didn’t have the brain power to respond, but she could only think of how thankful she was to him for asking her, for starting their adventure in the first place.

She never wanted to look back.


	5. 27th June

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its taken me literal months I didn't want to write :)

Despite coming in rather late the night before, both Lily and James were awake by 9am, not by choice unfortunately. Lily was the first to wake, having a minute or two of peaceful rest before last night’s drinks began to have an effect on her, and seconds later she was hunched over the hotel toilet, throwing up. James reached her moments later, grabbing her hair and pulling it away from her face. During the whole ordeal, James had to try and hold his stomach, but both were aware that they had drunk too much the previous night. 

A few minutes later Lily moved her head away from the toilet, leaning back against the bath and James carefully placed her hair behind her and sat next to her. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before turning to look at James, starting to laugh as she did so. James was mildly confused, before Lily was able to choke a few words out.

“I can’t believe we did that,” said Lily, her face lit up in excitement and all the signs of sleep gone, “now get out, I’m gonna shower, then we’re going out for the day!” Lily spoke louder this time, her excitement evident as she got up and pulled James up after her, dismissing him from the room.

With Lily in the shower, this was the first time that he was alone, and therefore could think about everything that had transpired in the last two days. What they had done was mad, and James knew it, and he felt Lily did too. They had made a bold and rash decision, and now they had to hope it would work out for the best. Last night had been a fun night, and, whilst he didn’t remember most of it, he had spent some of it wishing he would have been able to kiss Lily in the game. They had made some new friends, and it had been nice to finally have that opportunity. James had always had a small circle, he had no family apart from his parents growing up, and people had tended to steer clear of them. When he got to Hogwarts, he was able to meet the gryffindors, and most of the people in his year. But after second year, they stopped mingling with the new first years, and the year divides became extremely distinct. The groups from last night had felt like a breath of fresh air, and he already knew this experience was going to be worth everything it would put them through. 

After hearing the bathroom door click open, James grabbed his backpack and prepared to go in for a shower, but he wasn’t prepared for Lily to come out in just a towel, her hair dark red and wet down her back in stark contrast to her pale skin. James took a strong inhale as he pulled his eyes up to meet her face, droplets of water still resting on her upper body which rolled further down as she moved. She cast him a quick smile, seemingly unaware of the effect she was having on him, as she reached for her bag from the floor and he made his way into the bathroom. Once the door was locked again, they both let out a deep breath.

When they were both ready to go, it was nearing 9:30, and they were both desperate for some food, having hardly eaten the night before, and used to eating before this time at Hogwarts. They found a small cheap cafe not far from the hotel, and had a small breakfast each, knowing they needed to conserve the funds they had. 

Whilst James went to the bin, Lily had her time to reflect on the last day, and the crazy stuff they had already done. They had survived one day, what was 70 odd more? It was gonna be a summer to remember, and Lily wanted to make sure of that, it was the least they deserved. In the back of her mind, Lily wished that she could talk to Hogwarts, let people know that they were safe, but it would ruin anything. They would be forced back and locked up for the summer for their own protection. They would go back on September 1st, and they could explain it all then. 

As they reached the doors, they saw it was raining outside, but there was a musician still playing under the shelter several doors down, and it was loud throughout the square on which the shops were based. As Lily and James moved to leave, they hesitated, before Lily pushed James out into the rain, him becoming soaked in seconds. He gave Lily a cheeky look, as if he was planning something, before instead reaching his hand out to hers, almost an invitation to dance. She took his hand, and he slowly pulled her out into the rain, with her exclaiming about the cold the minute the rain hit her. He bowed, and she fake curtsied as they began a silly dance in the empty streets, passers-by stopping to watch them, a smile on their face, some quietly commenting on the ‘young love.’ Between James and Lily, it was a blur of feet on feet and of smiles and laughs shared between the two, before Lily spotted a large puddle, and subsequently an opportunity. She stomped her foot down, hard, into the puddle, having muddy rainwater travel all the way up James’ leg, and some on her own. He paused for a second, glaring at her, as the spectators laughed amongst themselves, before Lily set off in a dead sprint back to the hotel, eager to escape James’ revenge.

He caught up less than a minute later, he was a lot more active than Lily had been, and it worked for his advantage. He grabbed her round the waist and spun her around, her almost flush against him in the rain. They stayed that way, breathing hard in a backstreet, before thunder clapping overhead broke them apart, and Lily set off running again, as they both laughed and shouted at each other, having the most fun they’d had all year.

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In the Gryffindor common room that morning, the mood had been grim. There was a harsh difference in the way people had been acting since the day before, yesterday people had woken up happy, it was the first day of their last days at Hogwarts in that academic year, and they wanted to have a good time. That was up until Dumbledore and McGonagall arrived, bringing down the mood of the entire house. Heavy rain battered the windows of the great hall as people arrived at around 9am, as instructed to by their heads of house.

Gryffindor was the only house almost silent, with only some quiet noise amongst the first years, keeping it to a minimum after the first few nasty glances from the upper years. Conversation across the hall seemed muted as waves of anticipation rolled from all years. It remained silent, and to many, it felt like hours before Dumbledore finally rose from his seat, making his way up to the owl podium which had been placed there just for that morning.

“As many of you may already be aware, two nights ago, two of our fifth year Gryffindor students went missing,” at this, he paused, ready to gauge the reactions of the room “Lily Evans and James Potter. We have begun a full investigation into what has happened, but I do not wish to keep secrets from you, we do believe that Voldemort-” 

Whispers broke out amongst the houses, and many of the younger years exchanged fearful glances between each other, how could someone even say his name?

“Hush now, it is only a name, just like your’s and mine. We believe this may be the work of Voldemort, and now, alongside our search for our missing pupils, our new priority has become you. For the last week of the school term, you have my assurance that no harm will come to you within these walls, it is safer than it has ever been before.” Dumbledore finished, waving his hand as he lowered back into his seat, turning to McGonagall and entering a quiet discussion before the two of them left the hall only minutes later.

Most of the hall had been focussing on new conversations, what happened, were they truly safe? For James and Lily’s friends, they could only focus on the missing seats and try to ignore the pitying glances thrown at them by other members of their house.

In his misery, Sirius manages to catch the tail end of a conversation from some first years nearby.  
“- told the parents? I can’t imagine any of them were happy with the news”  
It set a sinking feeling in his stomach, the kind that makes you feel sick from the pain and misery, the kind that made Sirius be sure he wouldn’t be able to speak without everything bubbling over. 

It would be a long week.

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Far far away, James and Lily relished in the feeling of being unknown, of no one knowing their names, of turning every corner and seeing only the faces of strangers. A different version of themselves existed in the minds of everyone who saw them, even if it was just for a fleeting second. Hundreds of new versions of themselves, a chance to start a new life, just for a summer. 

They never wanted this feeling to end.


End file.
